"I know now they were there to arrange the Battle of Britain show, which took place at Blenheim in the gardens."
I am a Widow with two sons. I belong to the Age Concern Liaison and fact team. I am also a member of the P.P.I forum. My story is about a special time when I was in London during the Blitz. Inside Lives was frightening at first, but I enjoyed it at the end.
Sometimes things happen to you in childhood and you don't realise the meaning of them until years later. Looking back, I realise it must have been the year of the Battle of Britain when my dad came home with some visitors. There were two American soldiers and an elderly man in a black hat and suit, holding a cigar, which he never lit the whole time he was in the house. I was 8 years old and sitting on my mum's knee. I know now they were there to arrange the Battle of Britain show, which took place at Blenheim in the gardens. As the Chief of the Fire Brigade in Wembley, my father had a large role to play in this. But back then I hadn't a clue what was going on! I sat there dumbfounded as one of the Americans asked my mum if he could take me back to America with him. He said his wife would love me. Mum smiled and said no - thank goodness! Then the elderly man with the cigar asked my mum if he could hold me a while. I sat on his knee and he asked me my name. I whispered 'Gwen', but I was scared. He seemed so big! My dad told me that this man's name was Winston Churchill. Which meant nothing to me until years later! If only I'd known how special it was. At the time all I could think of was how to get away! But how many people can say they've sat on Winston Churchill's knee..? Years later, I sat and watched his funeral on television in Stoke-on-Trent and it brought all the memories back.
| 
